His Majesty the King has stressed the importance of love, unity and peace among Thais, urging them to work together to make the country a safe place and win the confidence of other countries, according to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The King also expressed deep concern over the plight of flood-stricken people in the South and advised the government and state agencies to work to their fullest capacity to restore their livelihoods, the prime minister said.
Gen Prayut, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda, privy councillors and senior government officials were granted an audience with His Majesty the King on Thursday night to report on the flood situation in the South.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday His Majesty was concerned about the hardship of people affected by the devastating floods in the South and asked the government to help them resume a normal life as soon as possible.
During the audience, the King advised the government and agencies concerned to work out long-term measures to sustainably tackle flooding in the South, and follow the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's guidelines on flood prevention.
"His Majesty instructed the government to do its best, reduce work duplication and ensure help is given to all victims. The King also advised that long-term action plans be devised to solve the flooding in the South in a sustainable manner," Gen Prayut said.
Gen Prayut said the King has also written a message to all Thais.
The royal message states: "With love and care, I want to give my encouragement to all those involved in rehabilitation and development efforts to bring back good spirits and physical strength for the sake of happiness and national security."
The King's message reflected his concern for his people, said the prime minister.
The prime minister said the government was duty-bound to tackle the flooding. He said it was necessary for the authorities to speed up the drainage of water and clear obstacles that blocked waterways.
The government would try to minimise the impact on people while draining flood water into the sea and taking measures to prevent flooding, he said.
At the Royal Plaza on Friday, Gen Prayut also presided over the launch of a caravan of 900 vehicles with about 300 teams of volunteers comprising students and education personnel who will bring help and relief supplies to flood victims in the South.
More than 150,000 households are expected to receive assistance.
Gen Prayut said the convoy's trip to the South is a show of force among Thais to help ease the suffering of fellow Thais.
The region has been declared a flood disaster Level 3 area, with the Interior Ministry leading efforts to integrate flood relief operations, Gen Prayut said, adding His Majesty the King was concerned about the flood situation in the South and instructed privy councillors to help the government.
The prime minister asked relief volunteers in the caravan to convey His Majesty's message of concern to flood victims and act as "unity envoys" on the government's behalf.
"Unity is about all people helping each other and about the spirit of sharing while avoiding the creation of new problems and divisions. We must unite all 70 million Thais with the power of love and unity," Gen Prayut told the gathering.
Meanwhile, former Democrat Party MP for Songkhla Wirat Kalayasiri yesterday welcomed the latest move by the prime minister to set up four committees to push forward national reforms, national strategy and reconciliation.
One will work on preparing for national reforms, one will prepare the national development strategy, one will help with building national unity, and the other will work on strategic national administration.
The prime minister will oversee the four committees which will be headed by deputy prime ministers, and they will work in tandem with the National Legislative Assembly and the National Reform Steering Assembly.
Regarding the committee for strategic national administration, it will serve as a "mini-cabinet", working on three levels of administration -- the command level, development supervision level and operational unit level.
Mr Wirat said it was appropriate for Gen Prayut to appoint Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to chair the committee on achieving national reconciliation.
Gen Prawit has good connections in all quarters and has what it takes to coordinate efforts to foster unity, Mr Wirat said.
He added that it is now the right time to achieve national reconciliation.
